Earlier this month, Australia’s MAX TV network aired an hour-long documentary on Midnight Oil as part of its “The Artist’s Story” series, and now, thanks to the folks at the Midnight Oil Fan Page on Facebook, those of us who aren’t Down Under can watch this excellent career overview.

This week’s new releases include new best-ofs from Midnight Oil and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, a collection of covers from Propaganda’s Claudia Brücken, a re-recording of Fear’s debut album (‘The Fear Record’) and an audiophile vinyl reissue of The Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Floodland.’

Midnight Oil will be the subject of an all-new Australian TV documentary that promises “the first ever inside story” of the band, thanks to its use of “a wealth of rare archival footage as well as the only interviews with each of the five band members granted in recent years.”

On the heels of last week’s announcement of a new 2CD best-of, Aussie rockers Midnight Oil today began offering a free download of “Read About It” recorded live in 2009 at one of two warm-up shows the band played in Canberra prior to taking part in the Sound Relief benefit concert.

Their box set may be on hold, but Australian rockers Midnight Oil do have a new release up their sleeves: In November, the band will issue a new 2CD, 36-track best-of titled ‘Essential Oils,’ a truly career-spanning overview of the band’s catalog, sampling cuts from 1978’s self-titled debut through 2002 swan song ‘Capricornia.’

Welcome to the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This edition includes items about Midnight Oil, The Stone Roses, John Lydon, This Mortal Coil, The Specials, Pet Shop Boys, World Party, Mission of Burma, The Smiths and more — plus the latest Auto Reverse mixtape.

Plans for a career-spanning box set from Australian rockers Midnight Oil — which guitarist Jim Moginie last year promised ‘is going to be amazing in its depth and presentation of the band’s career, with rare recordings and so far unseen and unheard film and music’ — apparently are ‘back on hold’ as the band re-evaluates the release.

This week’s round-up of Slicing Up Eyeballs headlines includes posts about Midnight Oil, The Cure, Wire, Gary Numan, The Church and New Order, plus our December mixtape and the second installment of our Rhino ‘Just Can’t Get Enough — The ’80s’ Spotify playlist.

Midnight Oil will be the subject of a career-spanning, multi-disc box set next year that guitarist Jim Moginie promises ‘is going to be amazing in its depth and presentation of the band’s career, with rare recordings and so far unseen and unheard film and music.’

For our latest installment of Vintage Video, we bring you a complete mid-’80s concert by Aussie powerhouse Midnight Oil — the landmark ‘Oils on the Water’ concert staged Jan. 13, 1985, on Sydney’s Goat Island as part of Australian radio station Triple J’s 10th anniversary.